Jurassic-al botanicals
Zoo’s dinosaur exhibit comes alive with flowers, plants and one avocado tree
Noah Huber knows there were no avocado trees or banana plants when dinosaurs clomped across Earth.
Had the grocery store fresh produce staples existed 70 million years ago, the plant-eating Brachiosaurus probably would have craned its long neck down to snack on bananas and avocados while the meateating Tyrannosaurus rex would have stepped on them without even a backward glance as it pursued dinner.
Roaring, moving and spitting life-sized dinosaurs are the stars of the Milwaukee County Zoo’s summer attraction. But if visitors take the time to look closer at the surroundings of the Amargasaurus or Diplophosaurus, they’ll notice a variety of tropical greenery including some that are distant cousins of plants from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
Huber, the zoo’s horticultural supervisor, gave a lot of thought to the plants and trees surrounding the animatronic dinosaurs. He knows ferns, conifers and cycads, in one form or another, were around during the age of the dinosaurs.
“We tried to go period correct,” Huber said this week while walking through “Dinosaurs! A Jurassic Journey,” which opened Memorial Day weekend. “There were a lot of evergreens and cycads during the dinosaur period.”
Located in an oak forest on the northwest side of the zoo, more than 20 dinosaurs are hidden in dense foliage arranged by Huber and his team of seven employees.
Around 600 plants were used for the exhibit — some were donated, some were purchased and some were grown in the zoo’s
three greenhouses. When Huber learned a year ago that the zoo would have a dinosaur exhibit, he began thinking about what kind and how many plants he would need. Planning took six months followed by six days of getting everything transported and planted in the ground.
Among the 30 to 35 different varieties of plants are lemon-scented geraniums; ferns; bromeliads; philodendrons; Sansevieria trifasciata, also known as mother-in-law’s tongue; kapok trees; glory bushes; cycads; and larch trees. Plus one donated avocado tree.
Though the cycads used by Huber don’t date from the age of dinosaurs, they are part of the group of slow-growing gymnosperms which did co-exist with Iguanodon and Brontosaurus.
Among the beautiful plants and trees, Huber also arranged dead tree branches and root systems.
“In a true dinosaur forest, not every plant would be manicured, so we left dead trees and branches around,” said Huber.
“The dinosaurs weren’t cleaning up the dead wood, they were clomping through the woods eating other dinosaurs.” The horticulture team used mulch recycled from the zoo’s fallen leaves and branches. Every day zoo horticulturists check the greenery and water them frequently. Huber has a couple of hundred plants in reserve, ready to swap out greenery that starts to wilt or wither.
While planning for the dinosaurs’ arrival, Huber had to consider different growing environments within the exhibit including spots in shade and direct sun as well as the size of the prehistoric animals.
Next to Suchomimus, Huber and his team buried baskets of ferns and planted larch trees. Eight-foot-tall banana plants were arranged next to the Quetzalcoatlus mother and baby, among seven new dinosaurs on display since the last exhibit at the zoo in 2015.
And, as befitting the basketball center of the dinosaur world, the longnecked Brachiosaurus’ area is filled with soaring trees and big plants.
“I put these tall ones here so he looks like he’s in the treetops and some branches look like he chomped on them,” said Huber.
Dinosaurs! A Jurassic Journey is on display at the Milwaukee County Zoo, 10001 W. Blue Mound Road, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Sept. 3. In addition to zoo admission, tickets to the dinosaur exhibit cost $3.